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Ashley Judd Said A Hollywood Mogul Once Asked Her To Watch Him Shower
Ashley Judd (Photo by Mireya Acierto/Getty Images)
Actress Ashley Judd has revealed that back in the '90s, she was sexually harassed by an unidentified media mogul who tried to get her to watch him shower. Ashley Judd wrote about the harassment she said she endured while filming Kiss the Girls as part of Variety's Power of Women issue.
Judd wrote that she was harassed by "one of our industry's most famous, admired-slash-reviled bosses" while filming the 1997 film Kiss the Girls, where Judd plays an intern who is kidnapped. This was a Paramount production, though she noted that the harasser was not a Paramount employee.
She said it began with the man asking her to meet him at the hotel for meals, which she only later realized meant his actual hotel room. He would also ask her to help him choose clothes, and she would frequently say no to his invitations. She said the weirdest request was him asking her to watch him take a shower. This particular request was one she later found out he had made to other women in the industry.
Judd said she responded with sarcasm, saying she would watch him shower only when she won an Academy Award in one of his films, and then left. "And by the way, I've never been offered a movie by that studio. Ever," she wrote.
Judd said she internalized what happened to her for a long time, and also felt a sense of shame for not leaving sooner or doing anything about it—especially as someone who considers herself a feminist and minored in gender studies.
It took years before I could evaluate that incident and realize that there was something incredibly wrong and illegal about it. And I think that's what's happening in Hollywood with regard to female crew members, above-the-line and below-the-line talent, and pay disparity. We're individually and collectively coming to a realization and acceptance that this is an entrenched part of the reality, and I think that talking about it is essential to the process of becoming aware, accepting that this is reality and then ultimately taking action.
Both Rose McGowan and Kristen Stewart have recently called out Hollywood's sexism.
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